Shows / Everyday Systems Podcast
Episodes
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #108: Digital Methadone
Screen addict? Take a page from opioid treatment and find your digital methadone.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #107: Spaghetti Western Asset Allocation
The Safe, the Boring, and the Crazy. A psychology-first approach to investing.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #106: Narralogue
Make language learning a habit, not a goal. No app, no book, no $$$, just 10 minutes a day of talking to yourself.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #105: Intelligent Dietary Defaults 2026
No S not quite doing the trick? Intelligent dietary defaults are a safe way to layer a little more on top — without piling on extra rules and risking the…
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #103: Rule Burden, Decision Burden
I'm now practicing 33 Everyday Systems. How is that possible? Is it even a good idea?
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #102: The Superfood Cinematic Universe
The No S Diet take on Ultraprocessed foods.
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Everyday Systems #101: State of the Systems 2025
My 7th annual review covers just the highlights from 33 total systems: How color-coded spreadsheets changed my behavior more than goal-setting, fine-tuning…
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #100: Mantrafication Clip Show
For the 100th episode, a clip show of course—in which I revisit Mantrafication and share an actual full clip of my current mantra. Part tour of all the systems…
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #98: Practical Panpsychism
What if your fridge had a soul? Would you keep it clean?
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #97: Microreflection
Tweet to yourself, spreadsheet diaries, soul sampling.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #96: Greenishness
Brokenhearted about breaking your streak? Let Greenishness Be Thy Motivation.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #95: Allocation Mind
When "growth mindset" hits its limits, it's time for another approach.
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Everyday Systems #93: Weekend Luddite 2025: The Rules, The Persona
Specific rules and a general approach for managing your relationship with technology -- battle hardened by over 20 years of practice.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #92: The Wisdom of Games
Game mechanics as life hacks (also some game recommendations).
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Everyday Systems #91: State of the Systems 2024
6th annual review of the Everyday Systems and how they are doing for me personally
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan -or- How to Philosophize with a Sledgehammer
Bounce back from injuries and setbacks by recasting progress as a reward
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #89: Proactive Procrastination (ProPro)
How to stop permasnacking on news. Use techniques inspired by the No S Diet and read it like a meal.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #88: The Metaphysics of Todo Listing
Todo Lists Are Your Salvation / Todo Lists Are Your Damnation
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #87: Variable-Height Glass Ceiling
A more nuanced approach to systematically moderating alcohol (and other substances)
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Everyday Systems #85: Urban Ranger 2024
Urban Ranger, from scratch, as if I'd never spoken or written about it before. Draft chapter for the upcoming Everyday Systems Compendium, and hopefully…
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Everyday Systems #84: The Hygiene Hypothesis as the Explanation for Everything
Cure all your ailments with dirt, pain and danger
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Everyday Systems #83: The No S Diet 2024
The No S Diet, from scratch, as if I'd never spoken or written about it before. Draft chapter for the upcoming Everyday Systems Compendium, and hopefully…
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #82: Clock & Calendar, Your Sword & Shield
Build habits by leaning on the clock and calendar rather than fighting against them. Beyond N and S days. Cutesy task phrases. Powerfully silly times…
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Everyday Systems #81: State of the Systems 2023
Annual update on all the Everyday Systems and how they are doing for me personally
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #80: Antimantras & Repetitive Thought Injuries
I think I mix about 14 metaphors in this episode: We've got a goose-stepping white bear baseball player with devil horns doing jiu jitsu on the death star. A…
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #79: My Pet Demon
Self-saboteur? Time to stop playing with your pet demons (maybe).
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #78: Spider Hunter, a CBT for Anxiety Game
Anxious? Here's a fun technique for getting over it. It's halfway between gamified mindfulness and exposure therapy.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #77: Aristotelian Self-Portrait
Aristotle: "You are what you repeatedly do." Well, what do you repeatedly do? In this episode, an exercise for finding out.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #75: Apps for Mentats
Everyday Systems as Apps for Human Minds.
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #74: Tidiness for Demihumans
Four catchphrases for tidier habits
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #73: Demihuman
A lighthearted approach to imposter syndrome.
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Everyday Systems #72: State of the Systems 2022
A little later and much shorter than last year.
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Everyday Systems #71: Last Wordism
A two-word anti-mantra to snap you and your family out of automatic bickering
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Everyday Systems #70: Surgical Flogging
Food logging: apparently it works. But it's torture to do long term. I discuss a way you can practice a limited, strategic, surgical form of food logging with…
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Everyday Systems #69: Shovelglove Recovery
After 20 years of swinging my sledgehammer injury-free, I discovered that that even Shovelglove can cause or at least be impacted by injury. How Shovelglove…
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Everyday Systems #68: How to be Ordinary
Be a Mensch, not a rockstar. It's surprisingly hard, even though you probably don't have any alternative.
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Everyday Systems #67: Demogorgon Whack-a-mole
What to do when your appetites keep routing around your rules to contain them
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Everyday Systems #66: Right Relationship with Robots
Technology for habits, and habits for technology. Also a story about my Roomba.
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Everyday Systems #65: Mindful Bagful
A lighthearted Jedi mind trick for calming yourself down in certain mundane situations
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Everyday Systems #64: State of the Systems 2021 Part 3: (Meta)
Meta Systems are systems for managing other systems: to track and boster them. Personal Punchcards, The Life Log, Mantrafication, and Loose Lips Sink Ships.
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Everyday Systems #63: State of the Systems 2021, Part 2 (Soul)
Soul systems are systems for detaching yourself from the frenzy of everyday life to reflect, for learning, for recovering, for devoting more of your limited…
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Everyday Systems #62: State of the Systems 2021, Part 1 (Body & Spirits)
2021 was miserable in most respects, but it's been another fantastic opportunity to test the true mettle of Everyday Systems. Part 1 reviews Body and Spirits…
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #61: VC Cat
An inspiringly ridiculous image to ward off the dreaded "what the hell" effect.
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Everyday Systems #60:The Study Habit, Part 2 (Behavioral)
Specific techniques for making study a daily habit
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Everyday Systems #59: The Study Habit
How to go from "study=cramming" to making learning a lifelong habit
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Everyday Systems #58: Loose Lips Sink Ships
A helpful image from WWII propaganda to keep you from sabotaging your self-improvement efforts with premature talk.
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Everyday Systems #57: Posifactive
All the self-help books ever written distilled into one word, with a note of enlightened self-mockery that makes the whole thing bearable:
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Everyday Systems #56: Good Redundancy
Engineer intentional redundancy into your habit systems to make them fault tolerant.
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Everyday Systems #55: The Lifelog
Habit tracking when apps or magic markers won't cut it
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Everyday Systems #54: State of the Systems 2020
How pandemic proof are the Everyday Systems? A quick review of 14 systems and how they are holding up.
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Everyday Systems 53: Timebox Lord
A system for balancing "infinite work" with "first things."
Everyday Systems PodcastEveryday Systems #52: Demogorgon vs. Asmodeus
How to ingore both of the evil voices in your head and attain comic detachment from your psychomachia.
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Everyday Systems #51: Contract Cards & Mantrafication
Reflect on what is giving you trouble with your self improvement system. Write a contract with yourself on a 4*6 index card. Record yourself speaking it…
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Everydays Systems #50: 2016 State of the Systems Check-In (Spiritual)
No S for the soul? 14-Year Jubilee updates on 8 "spiritual" systems: Weekend Luddite, Audiodidact, Chain of Self-command, Low Smoking, G-Ray Vision, Monthly…
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Everyday Systems #49: State of the Systems 2016 (Physical)
It's been 14 years now since everyday systems first went online in 2002. And I think that significant anniversary deserves some kind of acknowledgement. So I…